


Chasing Beaches

by Strange and Intoxicating -rsa- (strangeandintoxicating)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M, because why not, just kind of sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 22:31:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14388462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeandintoxicating/pseuds/Strange%20and%20Intoxicating%20-rsa-
Summary: Luna closed her eyes and dreamed of a place she had never seen. She had traveled only a part of the world, only the path that the Gods had laid out for her, but no matter how she yearned to see the archipelagos that had been told to her as they hid from monsters and daemons and men who wished for their deaths, there was no time.She tried to imagine what it would look like—the calm blue skies, the pale, sandy beaches. She could imagine the sand and the sky and the water meeting in such a way that was beyond breathtaking. It was what Luna imagined the Beyond would be like when she passed on. It was a place that was not touched by death, not for her. It was a mystical place held together by stories from a man Luna had known only for a short while, but a man who had changed her.





	Chasing Beaches

**Author's Note:**

  * For [obina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/obina/gifts).



> For Obina. I owe you another fic that isn't so depressing.

Luna closed her eyes and dreamed of a place she had never seen. She had traveled only a part of the world, only the path that the Gods had laid out for her, but no matter how she yearned to see the archipelagos that had been told to her as they hid from monsters and daemons and men who wished for their deaths, there was no time. **  
**

She tried to imagine what it would look like—the calm blue skies, the pale, sandy beaches. She could imagine the sand and the sky and the water meeting in such a way that was beyond breathtaking. It was what Luna imagined the Beyond would be like when she passed on. It was a place that was not touched by death, not for her. It was a mystical place held together by stories from a man Luna had known only for a short while, but a man who had changed her.

 _Enough with this brave princess act…_  

Luna could have laughed, but her lungs were weak and there was nothing to laugh about, because he was right and she was dying, and she was scared, and she had failed.

When she opened her eyes, she had to blink back the saltwater on her face, and though it was cold and careless, she tried to imagine warm water and the sun on her cheek. Despite the gray skies and the sound of screams and MTs that filled the air, Luna yearned for a moment of silence where all she could hear was the waves cresting and foaming. As the altar below her shook, as her sticky black blood bubbled against her white dress, as Noctis’s lips turned blue, Luna tried to dream of the Galahd she had heard of only in whispers.

She was chasing someone else’s memories, someone else's beaches, because there was nothing good in her own.

Luna didn’t want to think of Tenebrae and the blood and the fire and the stink of death. She didn’t want to think of Insomnia, where she had watched a King and a noble hero die for a cause she knew would end in more misery. She didn’t want to think of Altissia, the place where she would bleed to death and allow the waves to wash her away.

She wanted a beach, warm and comforting, a place where she would never hurt again. A place where her bones did not creak, her skin did not bruise, her blood did not curdle like sour milk in her veins.

It was hard for Luna to keep her eyes open. The light was fading, and she knew she was, too. She hoped that Pryna could complete her mission, could protect Noctis from the fate she had never the courage to fight against. It was no longer in her hands; she had done what she could, feeble as it was. It was time for Ignis to do what he could, because she could not.

_I do not fear death. What I fear is doing nothing and losing everything…_

What a childlike thing to tell herself, a way to bring comfort where no comfort could be given. She was **afraid**.

And yet…

There was a beach calling to her, and she could see a man there on the other side. He was warm and kind, someone who Luna had never expected to be the one to meet her as she went to the other side, but a welcome partner nonetheless. He had given her a parting dream, a story that kept her warm as she bled out upon the altar of a Goddess who did not know her name for a cause that never had hope.

But here he was, and here she was. 

This was his Beyond. This was his eternity.

“Looks like you kept your promise. He’s got the ring. You can let go, now. I’ll catch you.”

Luna could see the sandy beaches and his hand reaching for her and she could see Noctis and his death’s rattles slipping between his lips as his chest sluggishly rose and fell. She could feel Nyx’s skin against her hand and the sound of his stories about a place long forgotten just as she could feel her teeth chattering and the sounds of her brother’s voice in the distance as he called out her name.

She had done her part.

But she could still feel it like tar inside her—the shame, the anger, the regret. The fear.

“C’mon, Princess. Let go of it all and take my hand. Trust me.”

Luna closed her eyes as she felt her magic leave her, as her lungs exhaled and her heart gave its last beat, and with it she said goodbye to the heaviness of life and hello to something different, something warm and kind. 

Luna reached for Nyx’s hand and an eternal sun.

He didn’t let go.

She went with the light.


End file.
